Category: Stretching

Holding the final tension…

In the page on Isometric Stretches I mentioned holding the tension on the final stretch. The idea being it helps to reinforce the new “safe” length as far as the stretch reflex is concerned. If I had my doubts before, I’m a believer now, and here’s why.

Over the last few days I’ve had a cold, so my stretching has been limited. Rather than doing isometric stretches I’ve just been doing some short reps of each stretch. Although my final position is comparable, I’ve noticed that my initial flexibility is quite poor. I know being ill directly affects your flexibility, but this difference seemed a little too extreme. As a result, I threw in an isometric session, and sure enough, my initial flexibility improved. I’ve still not shaken this cold, so improvements are non-existent, but I now firmly believe in holding the final tension to retrain the stretch reflex.

Cheers

Tim…

Handstands…

I’ve been doing quite a bit of handstand practice recently. I’ve liked the thought of being able to nail a handstand since I got into Yoga. In the past the ability has come and gone, but I’ve never felt really confident.

A few years ago I went to a Yoga workshop with David Williams, and he suggested practicing handstands against the wall until you can hold them for 50-60 breaths. I tried it at the time, found it too difficult and ignored it. 🙂

Recently, due to a knee operation I found myself with time to burn, so I started to practice handstands again. I thought back to what David had said and gave it a go. I managed about 20-25 breaths. Over the course of the next 3 weeks I managed to get up to 60 breaths.

Once I had reached that point I moved into the center of the room and tried a handstand. I felt really strong and confident. I’m not saying I could nail it every time, but it was pretty cool. What’s more, when I did loose my balance, I was sometimes able to walk on my hands a little to regain it.

Like everything else, handstands all come down to practice. The more time you spend on your hands, the easier they get. I know it sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people, including myself, ignore the simplicity of it and assume we will get expert balancing skills from a couple of attempts once a week. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Update: These are interesting: